
Qass. 
Book. 



^y-^ 



,ttK^ 



SOLD at 13 PARK ROW, and at all Democratic Newspaper Offices. 



*'? ' / 






COERUPTIONS AHD FRAUDS OF 



■-^wcE>-»^gy -^IB»^— 



When the present Republican Administration as- 
sumed federal power, it found itself confronted with 
events of the gravest import to the safety, honor, 
and welfare of the Union. Everything conspired to 
make men serious, unselfish, and patriotic. The 
fabric which the men of the revolution had erected, 
out of decaying nationalities, the keen jealousies of 
states, and earnest differences in respect to treatment 
of the great problem of slave labor, was tottering to 
its fall. In such an hour, it is next to impossible to 
conceive that the leaders of the dominant party could 
find it in their hearts to place personal objects above 
considerations of the public good. But so it was. 
The spectacle of a great nation struggling for life, 
only seems to have inspired the motley horde of 
office-seekers, who followed Mr. Lincoln to Wash- 
ington, to confederate together to see how they 
could best rob and plunder the national pocket. The 
rapacity of these Republican leaders presented an 
example of indecent lust for pecuniary gain, amid 
the agonies of death, which has been only equalled 
by rebel wretches on a smaller scale, on so many 
battle fields. 

It would require volumes to give even an outline 
of the myriad cases of pecuniary fraud and corrup- 
tion which have marked the track of the present 
Federal Administration since its advent to power. 
If it were possible to group together all the mon- 
"ptrous frauds, presided over by Mr. Lincoln, as Chief 
Executive, it would be stilj impossible for the mind 
to grasp and realize their enormity. Our faculties 
would be no more equal to the tremendous task, 
than they are to take in, and duly appreciate the 
awful suffering and agony of a great battle, wliere 
ten thousand of our kindred, neighbors, and coun- 
trymen are maimed, butchered, or killed by the iron 
weapon of releailess war. The manly nature, whose 
sensibilities are overcome by the ""spectacle of even 
o?ifi human being in the struggle of mortal pain, is 
struck dumb by the contemplation of ten thousand 
in the same frightful state. So with the pecuniary 
frauds of the present Administration. If presented 
as a whole, they paralyze the conscience and judg- 
ment of honest men. We can only consider them in 
detail, and it is the purpose of the present paper to 
call the attention of voters and tax-payers of the 
country to one or two of the wretched schemes of 
peculation and plunder into which the prominent 
partisans of Mr. Lincoln have embarked. 



We begin with the Xew York Custom House, and 
from one case we may learn all. 

President Lincoln, having to select his cabinet 
advisers, elected upon the doctrines of Helper's 
" Impending Crisis" proceeded to select his cabinet 
advisers, upon much the same theory as a successful 
pirate chieftain would parcel out plunder among his 
followere; the Treasury Department fell to the por- 
tion of Mr. Chase, who, in the secondary distribu- 
tion of opportunities for pecuniary gajn, selected 
Hiram Barnky to be collector of the great port of 
New York, in which is collected the chief part of all 
revenue of the United States derlTcd from duties on 
imports. Mr. Barney w^s quite unknown to the 
country. He had never held Federal office of any 
kind, elective or executive, and had never received 
mark of distinction in the public affairs of New 
York. No large delegations of merchants requested 
his appointment. The controlling ground of his se- 
lection was the personal relation, of money and 
business, v/hich had existed between himself and 
the Secretary of the Treasury. 

When Mr. Barney entered upon his new duties, 
his first acts developed how little of patriotic devo- 
tion to an agonized Union, and how much of pur- 
pose to fill their own pockets, entered into the 
thoughts and purposes of those who were his supe- 
riors in office, and his associates in politics, and who 
were, among other things, looking forward to the 
time when ill-gotten gains could be qsed by office 
holders to perpetuate party power and cover up 
misdeeds. 

It had happened that, under a previous Adminis- 
tration, certain persons had conceived the idea of 
proposing to do the labor required at the appraisers' 
stores, the Custom House, and elsewhere, by contract, 
the price to be estimated upon each case or package. 
This labor, made necessary by examination of mer- 
chandise by the goverment appraisers, to fix the 
dutiable value of importaitions, had always been 
done by laborers, cartmen^ and draysy hired by the 
United States, by the month or year. The Treasury 
Department, being of opinion that the proposition 
of doing the work by contract, presented the same 
class of advantages "to the United States that con- 
tracts do to private individnals, made sm agreement 
with Messrs. McIntire, Bixby & Co., to do the work. 
The contract turned out to be an advantageous 
one, both to the Government and the contractors. 






tmcst^ 



It was for a term of years, which was unexpired 
when Mr. Barnet came into ofBce, and yet could 
on certain conditions be annulled by the Treasury 
Department. 

This contract was among the earliest of the things 
for which, while all New York beside was flinging 
away every thought of self, in one supreme emotion 
and desire to vindicate the honor of the flag struck 
down at Sumter, the Republican clique, headed by 
Messrs. Chase and Barnky, made desperate efl'orts. 
The rich prize was quickly in their possession, when 
it was decided to use the power and terror of the 
Government to deprive the inventors of the contract 
idea, of that property in their invention and subse- 
quent agreement, which was as clearly their own, as 
is a man's house or hind. It was authoritatively rep- 
resented to Messrs. McIntire, Bixby & Co., that un- 
less they sold their contract to certain persons, to be 
named by Mr. William Allen Botler, or those, 
directly or indirectly, associated with him, the Ad- 
ministration would cause it to be annulled altogether. 
The result was that the contract was assigned over, 
and conveyed to Luther B. Wyman (a book-keeper 
in the house of Charles H. Marshall & Co.) and Si- 
mon Stevens (a cousin of Thaddeus Stevens, of 
Pennsylvania, then a controlling Republican member 
of the House of Representatives). These were the 
assignees named in the writings. The original con- 
tractors having given bonds to the United States, 
for due performance of the contract, on their part, a 
bond of indemnity was given to them, as their sure- 
ties, which was signed by Charles il. Marshall 
(father-in-law of William Allen Butler, of the law 
£rm of Barney, Butler, and Parsons) ; John D. Scott 
And Simon Stevens, each justifying in the sum of 
thirty thousand dollars. Ip the management of the 
business, under the new contractors, Mr. Bixby, one 
of the old contractors, was employed, or continued 
in charge, and he accounted to William Allen But- 
ler ever}} week for all money receipts^ and there is 
good reason to believe that the law firm of Barney, 
BuTi.ER & Parsons, was the real assignee and 
owners of all but one fourth of the contract, which 
one fourth was the property of Messrs. Stevens and 
Bixby. 

This subject of the labor contract, as it came to 
be known, was so full of badness, in its every aspect, 
that Congress could not, in consequence of Demo- 
cratic clamor, resist making it a matter of legislative 
inquiry ; and how completely the peculators man- 
aged to evade the scrutiny of a congressional com- 
mittee, can best be seen by the following extract 
from tlie report of ils chairman, Colonel Van Wyck, 
a member of Congress from New York. 

Let the witness Lutiikr B. Wyman, one of the 
a.ssignees, speak first: 

Q. Were you, or were you not, interested in what ia 
called the labor contract at the public stores? A. I 
was. Q. From what time to what time? A. From 
the lUh of .May, Isijl, until about tlie 0th or 7tli of 
Sc;)tenibcr, ISiJ'i. Q. Who else was interested in the 
contract during that time? A. Mr. Luther 15. Wyman. 
Q. .Any other pcr.son ? A. I know of no otuku pkr- 
BON niuKCTLY interkstud. Q. Amv other person indi- 
rectly? A. I represented one half of the contract and 
Luther i{. Wyman represented the other half. Q. lie 
kind enough to tell us whether anybody else had any 
direct or indirect interest in it? A. I loprescntcd one 
half of it, it was in my name; I bought it and paid 
for it. Q. Did unybody have any indirect interest in 
any [)oition of the contract cxcc))t what you have rep- 
resented? A. I have only my 8uiiposition.s. Q. What 



do you know about that matter? A. That I was re- 
quested to pay one half of the prolits, whatever they 
might be, over and above expenses, to William Allen 
Butler. Mr. Butler slated that he was the attorney for 
Mr. Wyman. Payments were so made and receipt 
therefor given by William Allen Butler, as attorney 
for the two first payments. Subsequently, receipts 
were given by him for money paid to him, signed in 
initial " W. A. B." Then and from that day all 
payments were made to him and receipts given to^ 
him, and so signed, with the exception of some few 
payments which were made to George W. Parsons, 
who sometimes receipted for them, simply, " G. W. P." 
on some occasions, " W. A. B. per G. W. P.," and 
sometimes " G. W. P. for W. A. B." Q. Who is this 
William Allen Butler? A. He is of the law firm of 
Barney, Butler & Parsons. Q. Who is this Mr. Par- 
sons? A. He is of the firm of Barney, Butler & Par- 
sons. Q. Who is the Barney of that firm? A. Hiram 
Barney, collector of the port of New Yoik. Q. Is that 
firm now in business here ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you 
pay any of these proceeds to Jlr. Wyman himself? A. 
No, sir. Q. Did Mr. Wyman himself direct you where 
to pay those proceeds? A. He did not. Q. Did you 
have any authority directly from Mr. Wyman to pay 
them as you did ? A. Simply on the day of the exe- 
cution of the papers, JIi\ William Allen Butler said, in 
the presence of Mr. Wyman, this in purport : " As I 
am the attorney for Mr. Wyman, the net proceeds of 
this contract will be paid to me." Q. Did Mr. Wyman 
assent to that? A. Mr. Wyman nodded assent. Q. 
You took no paper to pi-otect you for such payments? 
A. I did not, nor have an}' such papers. Q. Do you 
know, from Mr. W^'man or otherwise, whether Mr. 
Wyman had any interest in this contract beyond the 
use of his name? A. Mr. Wyman has, on several 
occasions, stated to me that he had no interest, di- 
rect ok indirect, in the contract, otherwise than 
THE csE OF his NAME. Q. Did lie tell you who had the 
interest represented by his name? A. He said he 
knew of nobody in ihis matter except William Allen 
Ikitlcr, who claimed to act as attorney for the parties 
actually in interest. 

Mr. William Allen Butler was subsequently 
sworn, and Col. Van Wyck comments on his exam- 
ination in this wise : 

On the 3d day of January, Mr. Butler was sworn : 
I was not present at his examination ; I say this in 
justice to myself, for it seems almost impossible that 
his examination should have been concluded, and he 
not asked who were the real parties in interest whom 
he represented when that was one of the subjects of 
investigation. Only three questions were put to Mr. 
Butler. The first, as to his residence and business; 
the second, " have you read the testimony taken before 
this committee, touching tlie transfer of the labor con- 
tract?" and the third, ''have you any statement to 
make touching your connexion with that transfer of 
interest under the so-called labor contract?" Mark 
the gentleness of the interrogatories. Was it because 
he was the law partner of Mr. Barney? I know not. 
Among other things, to the last question he says : " But 
whatever intbnnation I hud on the subject was derived 
in the course of my professional em|)loymeiit, and I 
acquired no positive knowledge about it. Funds were 
placed in my hands by parties in interest." He evi- 
dently did not niean Stevens or Wyman ; he nowhere 
states Avho were the parties in interest, and, most 
strange of all, he was not asked. 

The connexion of the general orders with this con- 
tract shows irresistibly who were behind the scene, 
because they were worked in happy unison. 

These loyal patriots, not content with thus grasping 
the labor contract, before described, forthwith set lust- 
ful eyes upon the general order business of the Cus- 
tom House. 

When a vessel arrives in the port of New York, 
the captain obtains an order to send all gooda on his 



ship, which are unclaimed at the end of a certain 
time, wliich time is longer in case of sail than steam 
vessels, " under general order," as it is called. This 
means to send them to one of the stores designated 
by the Collector for the reception of "general or- 
der" merchandise. The quantity of merchandise 
thus sent under "general order" from steamers, is 
immense, and the profit to the owner of the ware- 
Tiouses is great in proportion. By law and regula- 
tion, the Collector is bound to send the "general 
order " goods to the warehouses nearest the discharg- 
ing ship. The port of New York is divided into two 
general divisions; one on North River, and the other 
on East River. It is estimated that "general order" 
warehouses on North River are worth not less than 
one hundred thousand dollars a year. 

When the present Administration came into power, 
successful ellbrts weie made to constrain the then 
proprietors of "general order" stores to pay over 
io certain parties, one third of their receipts, on pain 
of being deprived of orders altogether. It was de- 
veloped by Col. Van Wyck's committee, that fore- 
most among those who thus levied black-mail by Re- 
publican authority, on the East River division, was 
the firm of BowEN & Lambert; and it is reported 
that BowEN is brother-in-law of Collector Barney. 
On the North River, the " general order " business 
all passed into the hands of Bixby & Co., in which 
firm James Humphrey and (so says witness Charles 
Squire, jr.) young Marshall, son of Charles H. 
Marshall, before alluded to, as bondsman on the labor 
contract, were partners. 

This Mr. James Humphrey is a conspicuous Re- 
publican, was formerly Member of Congress from 
Brooklyn, and partner of Collector Barney. And 
it is a further curious and suggestive fact, that the 
Charles H. Marshall, whose book-keeper was 
stool pigeon of this elaborate contrivance of dis- 
honorable peculation, whose son V7as partner in the 
"general order" stores, and who was also bonds- 
man for the ring, is the same man who was so in- 
dignant at the suggestion of illuminating his house 
at the recent monster Democratic gathering in 
Union Square in behalf of the Union, and wrote a 
letter expressing his excessive trouble about the 
Chicago platform. ' 

So true is it, in the present canvass, that wherever 
is found a man, bitter in denunciation of McClel- 
tAX, or loud-mouthed in adulation of Lincoln, it 
can be safely predicted of him, that he is either a 
contractor, or office-holder, or a man, in some purely 
private matter, benefited by Mr. Lincoln. 

The conduct of the Republican politicians, headed 
by Mr. Barney, in the matter of these "general or- 
der " stores, can not be better stated than in tlie 
words of the congressional committee : 

Whereas, the evidence fvdly shows that there not 
only was favoritism, but the Collector did not make 
the selection, but gave the general orders to certain 
parties who had no stores, bonded or otherwise, and 
suffered tliem to go among those having general orders, 
and compelled them to give a bonus of thirty per cent. 
for the privilege of retaining it. This was certainli/ 
' a refinement of extortion or corruption vpon the prac- 
tices of former Administrations. Such a thing was 
never known before, and was reserved for the party 
who had promised ourselves and the nation tbatolficial 
corruption was to cease, and retrenchment and reform 
were to be once more inaugurated. Alas ! " like Dead 
Sea fruits, they turned to ashes on the lips." 

It does not appear that Mr. Barney received any part 
of this thirty per cent., but it is clear that he was no- 
tified of the outrages, committed by the men on whom 



' he had showered this bounty, and he did not condemn 
or check it. 

It was generally believed, by those familiar with 
the facts, that the firm of Barney, Butler & Par- 
sons was a. pool, into which, on the one hand, went 
all the earnnigs of the firm as lawyers, and Republi- 
can lobby agents, and on the other, all the money 
which Mr. Harney received, directly or indirectly, 
legally or illegally, as Collector. It was behoved 
that the Collector was thereby directly and pecuniarily 
interested in the labor contract, which the old con- 
tractors had been compelled, by threats, to sign over tc. 
Republicans. And nobody could well doubt that if all 
this Wiis true. Secretary Chase must be more or lesa 
cognizant of the facts. The public was confirmed in 
all this by what happened during the investigation 
of a subsequent committee of Congress, of which Mr. 
Hulburd, of New York, was chairman, and which 
made a report in June last. 

This committee was, to be sure, by reason of the 
conduct of its chairman, Hulburd, one of the most 
partisan and dishonest that ever disgraced an Ameri- 
can Congress. In his conduct of the examination in 
New York, he surrendered himself entirely to Mr. 
Barney and his chque. The earnest efforts of the 
only Democrat on the committee, Mr. Le Blond, 
could not withstand the partisan dishonesty of Hul- 
burd, who seemed to have no purpose but to shield 
and protect infamous frauds upon the public treas- 
ury ; acts so bad as to even excite the denuncia- 
tion of his Republican colleague, Rollins, of New 
Hampshire. The sacred cause of the Union, for 
which he professed to be a loyal devotee, the im- 
portant interests of the taxpayers, among his constit- 
uents, whose rights he was bound to maintain, were 
all pushed aside to screen political associates who 
were caught with arms in the public crib, up to 
their shoulders. The report of Hulburd is one 
mass of deception. Important testimony is sup- 
pressed, in the interest of political thieves and plun- 
derers. The evidence of more than twenty wit- 
nesses examined by him, is kept out of his printed 
report. Shame on such personal and pubUc infamy 
on the part of a man pretending to be honest ! 

But, even with all this apparent purpose of Hul- 
burd, acting under dictation of the Administration at 
Washington, to cover up the practices of Barnet 
and his Republican confederates against the people's 
money, now more than ever needed to maintain the 
people's flag, the complicity of Barney, with his law 
partners, to prostitute the office of Collector to un- 
lawfully get money to enrich themselves, and to re- 
elect Mr. Lincoln, was satisfactorily uncovered. 

During the examination of Barney, as a witness, 
the only members of the committee present, were 
Hulburd, chairman, and Le Blond, and the former 
insisted that the witness should have opportunity to 
consult with his confederates in order to revise and 
re-write his testimony. Mr. Blond made effort to 
probe to the root of the matter of the labor contract 
in respect to which Barney evaded a previous com- 
mittee, and with the following residt: 

Q. I will ask you whether you received a part of 
the income of your law firm? A. I will say that nom- 
inally I do, but I give as much as I receive ; I keep my 
place. Q. I will ask you, farther, whether your law 
partners receive any part or parcel of your salary, or 
the perquisites of your ofice ? A. They do not; but I 
give them a sum that answers their purposes to retain 
me in, and they not lose anything. They have nothing 
to do with my accounts. Q. An annual sum, do you 
wish to be understood, or a sum in the aggregate. A. 



It depends somewhat upon my receipts. Q. I confess 
that the answer which you give me seems to require 
that I should ask you a still further question, and if 
it turns out to be a purely peisonal matter or arrange- 
ment in which the leceipts of the Custom House do 
not constitute a part of the business, why it shall be 
stricken out. About what amount do you annually 
pay to your co-partners ? A. I am unable to answer 
that question without reference to my books and 
memoranda. Q. How much money do you receive 
from the lirm of Barney, Butler and Parsons annually, 
and how much do you i)ay said firm t)tii of the. eviolu- 
meiUs of your ojict ? (To tftis Mr. Barney demurred 
answering, claiming it to be foreign to the purposes of 
the committee's investigation, and a needless inquiry 
into his private afiairs.) (Thereupon Mr. Le Blond 
stated that he was informed that the firm of Barney, 
Butler k Parsons had taken fees in cases against the 
Government growing out of seizures made by the 
Custom House authorities ; and further, that said firm 
had an interest in what is known as the labor contract, 
connected with the Custom House, and declared if these 
things were so, his question was pertinent, and ought, 
as connected with public interest, to be answered.) 
(There being but two members of the committee pres- 
ent, and they ditfering as to priority of time in which 
the questions should be put, and answers required, the 
further examination of Mr. Barney was deferred, and 
the committee adjourned.) 

It is obvious from this report that if IIulburd had 
sustained Le Blond, and compelled the witness to 
make answer, the whole cou.spiracy of plunder, the 
illegal act of having a partner in the salary dud per- 
quisites of a revenue office, would have been ex- 
posed. Even the questions of Le Blond permitted 
by HuLBURD to be put, terrified the witness into pre- 
varications which would be mortifying enough to an 
upright man, or a man not utterly given over to lust 
of pecuniary gain in the midst of the unspeakable ca- 
lamities of a civil war, which makes poverty and want 
stare laboring men in the face. And all this while 
the legal perquisites of the Collectorship are not 
much less (see p. 23 of Report) than twenty-five 
thousand dollars a year. One would suppose that 
even a Black Republican maw would be satisfied with 
a sum equal to the salary of the President of the 
United States ! but not so, think loyal leaguers, who 
shout for the Union, and rob the treasury at the same 
moment! 

If the record of Black-Republican faithlessness to 
important public trusts, stopped here, the country 
could, perhaps, endure thus mucli of disgrace. But 
there is yet a lower depth of national humiliation to 
be sounded. 

The e.\igency of a war begun avowedly for the 
Union, but now carried on otttsiJe the Union, to se- 
cure abandonment of slavery, in obedience to that 
logic and rhetoric of sectionalism, and hatred of 
slaveholders, which has, for three years, blotted out 
or rolled U|) in blood one half of the map of the 
Union, compelled Congress, in 1802, to enact that 
certain restrictions be placed upon commerce, from 
our northern ports, with foreign ports around the 
Gulf of Mexico. The object was to prevent sujjjjlies 
of war going to aid lobel* in arms, by way of ports 
in the West India Islaiuls, or in Mexico. The pro- 
visions of the law explicitly decarcd : 

That whenever a permit or clearance is granted for 
cither a foreign or domestic port, it shall be lawful 
for the collector of customs granting flic same, if he 
shall deem it necessary, under ilie eiicumstanccs of 
the case, to rei[uire n bond to be executed by the nuis- 
ter or the owner of the vessel in a penalty equal to 
the value ol' the cargo, and with sureties to the satis- 
faction of such collector, that the said shall be deliv- 



ered at the destination for which it is cleared or ,ier- 
mitted, and that no part thereof shall be used in 
aftbrding aid or comfort to anj' person or parties in 
insurrections against the authority of the United 

States. 

The Treasury Department, tbcr'^fore, issued in- 
structions to Collectors as follows: 

In all cases where, in your judgment, there is 
ground of apprehension that any goods, wares or. 
merchandise, shipped at your port, will be used in 
any way for the aid of the insurgents or the insurrec- 
tion, you will require substantial security to be given 
that such goods, wares, or merchandise shall not be 
transferred to anyplace under insurrectionary control, 
and shall not in any way be used to give aid or comfort 
to such insurgents. 

It is easy to see that this law, and the instructions, 
if executed by an honest Collector, and efficient 
subordinates, would ctl'ectually stop all illicit trade 
between New York city and the rebels. The men 
who were engaged in the business — a majority of 
whom were filling the air with their piercing shrieks 
of denunciation of all Democrats, and Gen. McCIellan 
in particular, and filling their pockets with some- 
thing else, at the same time — saw, that unless they 
'could neutralize the law, by fraud and stealth, their 
business of treason was gone. Let the published 
record tell ho\." successful for themselves, and their 
republican confederates in office under Mr. Lincoln, 
but with what inexpressible humiliation for the Em- 
pire city and State, the work of giving aid and com- 
fort to the enemy was done! The pen of history 
will pause benumbed, as it records how Collector 
Barney permitted, and most prominent Rebublica i 
gentlemen in office actively cooperated in this 
scheme to supply the rebels with means to torture 
our fathers, sons, and brothers who had gone out to 
battle on our behalf! Treason and treachery have 
rarely accomplished a more infamous project ! And 
yet, the men who are now the great pillars in ilr. 
Lincoln's reelection temple were uppermost in the 
work ! While General McClellan was risking 
life at the head of his brave soldiers, men who now 
revile him, were conspiring to send aid to the en- 
emy, against which he was contending, and some of 
those men high in office under Piesident Lincoln ! 
Of such is a party "based on moral ideas! " 

The blockade runners were not long in perceiving 
the now universally accepted fact that ever)/ Black He- 
publican office-holder has his price, and iliey began 
at once to approach Mr. Lincoln's appointees. There 
wore men, in the New York Custom House, quick 
and ready to seize the bait. The scheme of taking 
straw bonds, and straw bail, or of purloining, by 
official aid, bonds once given ; or of bribing the in- 
spectors of the revenue, who had charge of loading 
suspicious vessels, was inmiediatcly matured. The 
pecuniary inducement was anqtle. TIio traitors, 
in the Republican ranks, were easily found, and seven 
thousand, nine hundred and thirty -two bonds were 
executed between September, 1801, and May, 1864, 
in the New York Custom House alone. 

Among the persons who have been conspicuous in 
the fraudulent practices growing out of Mr. Lin- 
coln's election, is a man named Alueut M. Palmer, 
He was examined by Mr. IluLnuun's white-washing 
committee, while a prisoner in Fort Lafayette, and 
stated that he was commended to Mr. Barney as a 
man useful for collecting i)uri oses, by Mayor Of- 
oyke, a prominent Republican, who has figured ex- 
tensively in a way very undesirable to a njan who re- 
spected the tea commandments. Opdyke secured 



Palmer's appointment, and in tlie hands of the lat- 
ter, Mr. Barney threw almost unlimited power of 
control in the Custom House. Mr. Deriiam, a most 
iEtelligent witness, examined by the Committee, 
swears (p. 238) that " Mr. Palmer, everybody 
around the Custom House supposed to be principal 
mau there, and he, in fact, was said to bo the Col- 
lector.' 

Another witness, appointed in the Custom House, 
says : 

" I had a situation in the Custom House, which 
was given nie without solicitation. I had been very 
active in my party, and had spent between two and 
three thousand dollars, and was active in getting 
places for my friends. Mr. Palmer told me that I 
ought to have some place for myself. I told him I 
could take no place which required active duty. I 
was appointed a debentured clerk. ... -I was there 
a year and a quarter. Itliink a dozen days will cover 
all I was on duty.'''' 

The following extracts, from pages 146 and 147 
of the report, Avill present a pretty clear idea of the 
kind of men Republicans, high in office, collect 
around them : 

By Mr. Le Blond : Q. What were Palmer's circum- 
stances? A. He was a clerk in the Custom House at 
§1,500. Q. Was his salary his only source of living, 
and his only means -df paying you back again? A. 
He had commissions on the collections fur the 2^ciri>/. 
They collected so much every year from the Custom 
House, and I believe he used to receive a percentage 
on the full amount that was collected. I tliouirlit 
when he was collecting last November or December 
that he would pay me back what he owed me; he 
owed me then .$t)00 or §700, but he did not do it. 

By Mr. Kolliiis: Q. You say that some 20 men in 
the I7th ward were appointed to office on your re- 
commendation and the recommendation of otlier men 
in the ward ; did any one of these 20 men ever pay 
you directly or indirectly, any money or other vain- 
able consideration for your influence in securing their 
appointment ? A. ^fost of them owed me money ; 
were pour devils ivlio had no money to pay rents ; they 
were the best working politicians in my ward. 

By Mr. Le Blond: Q. What business did Palmer 
follow before he went into the Custom House ? A. 
I never knew him before he went to the Custom 
House. Q. Do you know whether he is a professional 
man? A. I have understood that he was; that he 
passed examination as a lawyer. 

By Mr. KoUins ; Where did Palmer live during 
his term of olKce in the Custom House? A. He lived 
in the ITth ward. Q. Did he board at a hotel ? A. 
When I first knew him he boarded at private houses, 
and was afterwards at a private hotel. Q. Was his 
mode of living expensive? A. More expensive than 
mine. Q. Did he keep horses? A. No, Sir ; housed 
to drive mine ; I generally kept three ; sometimes he 
would take his wife out with him, and get my team, 
and sometimes he would take a single horse ; he left 
my ward and lived at the Metropolitan hotel. Q. 
How long since ? A. "Probably in August or September 
last. Q,. Upon what terms did he live there? A. He 
told me he paid $35 a week. Q. What was his salary, 
do you say ? A. §1,500 a year, and he used to have 
his commission, 1\ per cent. 

The introduction by Opdtke ; the ready promo- 
tion by Barney to the power portrayed by the wit- 
nesses cited ; the small legal receipts by Palmer as 
salary, and the large expenditure, sufficiently explain 
what was the function of the latter, in the scheme 
of peculation and plunder concocted by prominent 
Republicans. And no one is surprised, when at last, 
exposure of what has been done hmds Mr. Paljier 
in Fort Lafiyette, a prisoner of state. He was ar- 



rested by Marshal Murray, without a suspicion by 
Collector Barney that the practises of his young 
friend had been discovered, and the facts, touching 
Republican complicity with blockade runners, all 
laid bare. 

Besides Palmer, there was, in the Custom House, 
another eminent Republican, a most controlling man 
in that organization which elected Mr. Lincoln on 
the basis of " moral ideas." He had outrun the 
swiftest in denunciation of Democrats who did not 
think it the sum and substance of all philanthropy 
and patriotism, to " avoid " and " abhor " the people 
of the slave-labor States, with whom we, of the 
North, had entered into the most sacred, and tender 
relations of country. He had addressed wide-awake 
processions inmtmerable, in advocacy of the honesty 
and statesmanship of Mr Lincoln, and he was not 
forgotten when the latter entered into the seats of 
power, and made up his jewels. Of such was Henry 
B. Stanton. > 

It was a part of the Republican plan to make him 
Deputy Collector, and it was done. Stanton says 
that Mr. Chase told him that the salary was small, 
but his income could be increased. He was put in 
charge of the bond bureau of the Custom House, 
through v\'hich shipments to the rebels were made. 
He prepared the bonds, as he says, by Mr. Barney's 
request, and with his approval of the form adopted. 
And here crops out the first step in the iniquity ! 
The law requires the bond not to furnish the goods 
to rebels to be given by the master of the ship, and, 
will it be believed, it was drawn so as to shelter the 
master, and substitute the owner of the goods ? All 
the bonds so taken were thus illegal, good for nothing, 
and so the shipper went free in his work of treason ! 
More than that, it was proved that bonds were can- 
celled at the Custom House for direct pecuniary 
consideration. On this point, let a witness, Mr. Al- 
fred T. CoNKLiN, called before the Committee, tell 
his own story- of his experience : 

Alfred T. Conklin sworn and examined (commission 
merchant, No. 42 New street), by the Chairman. Q. 
How long have you been a commission merchant ? 
A. About 12 years. Q. Are you engaged in importa- 
tions and exportationa ? A.I receive flour from the 
West; ship goods to the West Indies and the British 
Provinces; also receive goods from England ; not a 
great many, however. Q. You say that you have 
shipped to the West Indies somewhat. We under- 
stand that there have been some new treasury regula- 
tions since the Rebellion commenced, diftering from 
what formerly prevailed, and especially requiring 
bonds that were not formerly given ; has your busi- 
ness required you to give any such bonds? A. I 
have not shipped any such goods myself thnt re- 
quired me to give any such bonds, but I have become 
bondsman for other parties who shipped. Q. Have 
you done very inuch business of that kind ? A. 1 have 
only been bondsman for one firm, with the exception 
of one other instance, I was bondsman for Middleton 
& Co., and in one instance for Wm. M. Sniith. I 
tliink the bonds in that case w-ere for .?000 and 
§1,500. I have been on the bonds of Middleton &Co. 
for $80,000 or §90,000 on ditferent shipments from §900 
probably up to §30,000 on different vessels, from a 
period commencing last June. Q. The committee 
liave taken some testimony in reference to the nature 
of these bonds and the parties. I want to ask you 
whether the bonds that you have r,igned have all or 
any of them been cancelled or surrendered afterwards 1 
A. Some six or seven have been surrendered. Q. 
The committee wish a full history of this transaction 
just as it took place. A. It occurred in this way; 
it was the general talk hero that these bonds could bo 



bcufht up. I was pnssins through the Custom House 
oae'cla.v on business, and I asked one of tlie brokers, 
bv mere clianec, if such things com 1.1 be done. He 
sa'id he thouslit it conk! be. I asked him if he ever 
knew it to be" don.;; he said he had. Tiie broker's 
name was Henry Sniitli ; 1 think he resides in Jersey 
City. He is a broker in the Custom House. 1 told 
hira that I was on some bonds, and if thiit was tlie 
case I would like to Imy them np, and 1 told him to 
see how it was. He reported wh.it he had done, and 
the result of it was that we' bought up six or seven 
bonds. Q. What was the price paid? A. The whole 
amount was about §l,iiOO that 1 paid for the bonds. 
Q. That is the amount you paid Mr. Smith ? A. 
Yes, Sir. Q. How long a time intervened, in your 
opinion, betwixt Mr. Smith's saying to you that things 
were arianged, and your entering, with Mr. Middle- 
ton, Stanton's office? A. Mr. Middlcton, previously 
to the bond being given, asked me if I would have any 
objections to gomg on a bond with him. I told him 
no. He stated that they had got into difficulty with 
the Custom House, and that was the first occasion that 
a bond had been required of them. I told him that I 
had no objections to going on the bond at .all. So the 
nestdav, or the day alter, I think— I will not be certain 
which— I went up to the Custom House with him to give 
this bond, and as I said that I had negotiated with 
Smith in reference to it, I will state how it took place. 
I happened to be passing along through the Custom 
House within a few days of the time that this bond 
was given, and having "heard about the getting up of 
bonds, I asked Smith about it. He said he thought it 
could be done, and wanted to know why. I told him 
I understood those things were done, and if other peo- 
ple are doing it, I didn't know why we should not do 
it. He afterwards told me that it could be done. 
When I agreed to go on this bond of Middleton, I did 
not know that the bond was for so large an amount, 
and that I would have to justify to the amount of 
$64,000. As soon as I went up there and found that 
this was the case. I turned to Smith, " You say you 
can buy up these bonds. AVhat will it cost to get up 
this bond, the penal sum of which is $04,000? I can- 
not swear that I am worth $64,000." Says he, " I will 
see." He goes to Mr. Stanton's room and comes back. 
There was some little difference about the price, I think 
he asked §650. He went back and forth two or three 
times, and finally came down to |600 ; and when we 
got as far as that I said to Mr. Smith, " Now, if Mr. 
Stanton is going to sell this bond, what difference does 
it make whether I swear I am worth $64,003 or sixty- 
four cents? I cannot swear that I am worth §64,0W. 
If he has a mind to take me and not swear me, I will 
go on the bond. It makes no odds to him if he sells 
his bond." Smith says, "I will go in and see him." 
He went to see ; was gone some time; came back and 
said, " That will be all right, he will not ask you any 
questions at all" I said, "Are you sure of that?" 
and he said, " That is understood." " I want it dis- 
tinctly understood," says I, " that I will not swear to 
any amount at all." He went away, came back, and 
said, "It is all right, you will not be asked any ques- 
tions at all." When he went into Mr. Stanton's room, 
Mr. Middleton came up, and Mr. Stanton says, " Is 
this Mr. Middleton ?" " Yes, sir." " Are you worth 
the amount of that shipment?" Mr. Middleton says, 
" Yes, sir." He then turns around to me. " Is this 
the bondsman?" .Says I, "Yes, sir." "Will you 
swear?" (waving his hand) and that was all there was 
about it. Q. Now, I want to recall your attention to 
the point about which I was enquiring before this state- 
ment. What, in your opinion, was the intervening 
time between the last interview with Smith and your 
entering Stanton's i-oom with Mr. Middleton? A. I 
do not think it was ten minutes, because about that 
time I stood there waiting for Mr. Middleton to get his 
p.apers through. He had sent for me to come up to the 
Custom House. I went to the Custom House, found 
Mr. Jliddleton, and he said, " I will be through in a 
few minutes." He was standing in a line, and I stood 
there talking to Mr. Smith while Mr. Middleton was 



getting his papers through. Q. In your former testi- 
mony you stated that for some reason you had occa- 
sion' to open the door that led into Mr. Stanton's 
office, vou found him leaning on the desk, and talking 
toSmi'th? A. That was not upon this occasion, but 
another time; Smith was then negotiating for some 
other bonds, and staid a long while. I was in a hurry, 
as it was just before 'change, and I went to the door of 
the front office, but I could not see him in there, and I 
opened the door, went in, and looked through the other 
door, and he was leaning on the desk talking with Mr. 
Stanton. Q. Was that in reference to an arrangement 
for the surrender of a bond? A. Yes, sir. Q.M)oyou 
recollect what one? A. I do not. Q. Was it previous 
to or after this arrangement about the $64,i'00 bond? 
A. It was after the first bond— the §64,000 bond— in 
the course of two or three weeks ora month after that. 
Q. Y'ou do not remember either, I suppose, the spe- 
cific bond or the amount of it, when you saw Smith 
leaning on the desk and talking to Stanton ? A. No, 
sir, it was a small bond, I think he asked §1"0, and I 
told him that was an exorbitant price, and he went 
back and forlh two or three times; Mr. Stanton would 
not yield at all. Smith said that Stanton said it was 
just" as much risk to take a small bond as a large one. 
On another occasion, when he was negotiating lor the 
surrender of a bond, $25 split them, and finally it was 
settled by his agreeing to pay §100 before three o'clock, 
Stanton "saying that he wanted to use that amount. 
This was abou^ two o'clock. 

Maech 22, 1S64. 

Alfred T. Conklin recalled. 

By the Chairman: 

Question. Do you recollect whether the bonds that 
came into vour hands were surrendered or given up 
without the word " cancelled " being upon them, with- 
out Mr. Stanton's name being upon them? Answer. 
The names were cut out. Q. Who cut them out ? A. 
I cut them out after they came into my hands. Q. Do 
vou recol!ect how long it was after the execution of the 
"bonds before you obtained them through Mr. Smith? 
A. I obtained" one of these bonds inside of an hour 
after it was executed. Q. Can you recollect who the 
principal of the bond was? A. It was Middleton & 
Co. ; I was the security on it. 

Bv Mr. Rollins : 

Question. Did vou go in with Middleton when he 
executed it? Answer. Y'es, sir. Q. Did he charge 
you a surety fee upon it? A. I think a dcdlar and a 
half or two dollars ; that was paid, and within an hour 
from that time I had the bond in my jwssession. Q. 
Do you know what that bond cost? A. Six hundred 
dolfars. Q. When the bond came back the word 
" cancelled " was not written across it, it was simply 
handed to you as you left it? A. Yes, sir, that bond 
is destroyed ; all the rest of the bonds are intact, with 
the exce"ption of the signatures of Middleton & Co. 
Q. What was the cause of this bond being destroyed ? 
A. That was the first bond that was ever got up. Q. 
For what amount was it given ? A. About $64,000 
was the penal sum. When this bond came up it was 
a bond of a larger amount tlian I was willing to swear 
I was worth ($64,000). I told Mr. Smith, " These gen- 
tlemen want me to go on a bond for $64,000, and I do 
not feel as if I wanted to swear that I am worth that; 
and the consequence is that if I do not swear to that I 
cannot go upon that bond, but as Mr. Stanton is going 
to give us that bond back immediafdy, what odds does 
it make whether I swear I am worth $64,i''00 or S'xty- 
fpur cents? The bargain was made before the bond 
wa= given that the amount to be paid for it was $600. 
Q. How do yen know the bargain was made? A. I 
made it. Q. With whom ? A. Mr. Smith. Q. And 
he made it with whom ? A. I suppose lie made it \vith 
Jlr Stanton. Q. How was he spoken of generally ? 
what desisnation was given him? A. Mr. Stanton; I 
did not know there was a younger Stanton there, 1 did 
not know Mr. Stanton nor the boy. I made this agree- 
ment, and I will tell you bow it proves that it is Mr. 
Stanton who is concerned. When I told Mr. Smith 



■^ 



that I would not swear that I was worth $i54,000, says 
I, if you will go to Mr. Stanton, and get him to agree 
not to swear me, I will become bondsman on the bond. 
lie went I'rom me into Mr. Stanton's room ; I stood in 
the rotunda ; he went in tlietc ; was gone from three 
to live minutes; came back again, and he says it is all 
right. Within ten minutes atterwurds the papers had 
progressed so far that Ihev went in to Mr. Stunton to 
have clearance made and the bond taken. We went 
in there before Mr. Stanton ; Mr. Stanton turned to 
Mr. Middleton and savs, "Is this Mr. Middleton? 
" Yes." " Do you swear that you are worth the 
nmount of this shipment (raising his hand)?" "I 
do." "Is this the bondsman (turning to me) ?^ "ir^^' 
sir." "Do you swear (raising his hand)?" " 1 es, 
Bir." So we carried out the programme 



When all this infLimv was made known to Presi- 
dent Lincoln, was Mr. Stanton ignommiously ex- 
pelled from office ? Not at all ! He toa.'J permitted 
to honorably resign. Why was he not arrested and 
imprisoned in Fort Lafayette? Who shall say? 
Rather, who shall deny that neither Mr. Lincoln, or 
Mr. Chask, or Mr. Baiiney dared touch one hair of 
Stanton's head ? He knew too much ! He could 
tell who were his accomplices and abettors, in the 
wretched business of furnishing supplies to rebels, 
during the day, and making Republican stump 
Bpeeches, in the evening, denouncing George B. 

McClELLAN. iTr • * 

During all this time, if Mr. Thurlow Weed is to 
be believed, and reference can be had to his letteis 
piiblishod in his Albany Journal, Collector Barney 

' " Fold up his tents like the Arabs, 

And quietly steal away." 

In the meantime, corruption grew apace. An ap- 
praiser was convicted of' stealing merchandise, and 
yet nothing was done. Lincoln, for some reason 
dared not move. The Republican politicians were 
purloinin" millions. At last, however, public opin- 
ion could be appeased no longer, and Mr. Barney 
was just as the political canvass was coming on, per- 
suaded by his confederates to give up his office and 
avoid exposure, and save Lincoln. 
- But who succeeded him? Here is touched another 
chapter of Rei)ublican honesty and patriotism ! 

The facts of the blockade of the ports of the se- 
ceded States bv the loval States, the capture by our 
navv of manv 'valuable ships and their cargoes, and 
their final judic'al condemnation and sale as prizes 
of wai-, are well known. In the early part of the 
rebellion most of the prizes were sent by our gallant 
navil officers into the port of New \ oik for adjudi- 
cation and s:de. This was of great commercial bene- 
fit to the city and Slate. But, at last, when the 
navv came to' get their allotted share of the prizes 
it was found that a large portion of the proceeds had 
been pocketed, under one pretence and another, by 
Mr. Lincoln's loyal (?) office holders in New lork 
Conspicuous among these men, who thus in effect 
conspired to rob our brave sailors of the just reward 
of many a ni-ht of anxious watching, wore District 
Attorney S.^iTn, Marshal Mcrray, Mr. Simeon 
Draper, and a ring of gentlemen who managed to 
get themselves appointed appraisers, in almost every 
c'se The result of all these official practices was 
Siat'naval officers sent no more prizes to ^ew \ ork. 
and a committee was appointed to investigate he 
Bubject. During this investigation, charges of the 
moT serious claract^r were made, and pro.W 
a-ainst Ma Draper, who had been appointed to be 
aSoncer of the p^-i.e vessels and their cargoes. 



He was accused of extortionate fees, of wrongfully 
deducting these fees from the proceeds of sales, 
and of keeping back government funds. His fees 
were so exorbitant that they excited the astonish- 
ment of everybody but those denounced by Mr. Up- 
ton as cooperating with him to represent his exao. 
tions as proper. The charges against Mr. Draper 
cannot be bettor stated than in the language of Mr. 
Upton, who was counsel for the naval officers. 
He says: 

Mr. Draper kept no separate bank account of the 
proceeds of the i)rize property. It was all mixed in 
with his own, and might at any time have been seized 
by his creditors. 

The deposit of a fund so large, in his own name^ 
even using the puerile disguise of the words " in trust, 
was certainlv not the act of a cautious business man, 
if it was that of an honest one. That he did not 
promptly pay the fund when demanded is fully proved 
by witnesses and written papers of demand, notwith- 
standing the statements to the contrary of himself and 
son and clerk. Day after day and week after week, he 
retained large amounts of these moneys upon frivolous 
excuses, in spite of incessant demands for its payment 
by the marshal ; and this was not the act of a faith- 
ful man. „ . . , . , . 

That it was his habit to make fictitious bids at auc- 
tion sales, thereby running an eager purchaser up be- 
yond the fair price of the article sold, and thus com- 
mitting a fraud upon him, and bringing the govern- 
ment sales into disrepute, is proved by the young man 3 
confessions, as well as by other testimony; and t.iis 
was not the act of an honest man, or of one whose 
" skill tended to promote the interests of the govern- 
ment." . , 

In one case, sworn to by O'Donohue, it appears that 
Mr. Draper allowed a reclamation without the assent 
or action of any government official whatsoever, solely 
on his own responsibility; and it appears that he fa- • 
vored and urged with persistent pertinacity the first 
reclamation which was made in favor of a purchaser 
of prize property, and this may be regarded as tae 
"eausa sine qua no u " ol' idl the irregularities and 
frauds in such proceedings which succeeded. 

The learned counsel says that Mr. Draper charged 
for his services the usual and customary commission. 
This is correct, for this— that the commission paid to 
auctioneers for the sale of merchandise of ordinary 
amounts and in the ordinary way, in ordinary times, 
cannot lay the basis of a custom for a commission on 
prize sales of enormous amounts in time of war, and 
where the auctioneer has no care, no custody, no re- 
sponsibility. It is neither proper nor jiist to speak of 
a custnmaiy commission for such a service. 

There has been nothing like a precedent in our com- 
munity to establish such\i custom. The truth ts, he 
charqed and retained an enormom and wholly 'unwar- 
rantable, unprecedented, and exorbitant commission ; a 
commission so utterly disproportioned to the trifling 
service perfoi-med, that it -was, in truth, nothing short 
of an imposition— a shameless imposiiwn-vpon the 
Kaiy Pension Fund and the naval cariors, of more 
than three fourths of the large sums retained. And 
when we think that the continuance of thut imposition 
operating upon the very large amount of prize proper- 
ty in the di.strict yet unsold, would have increased the 
sum retained by this auctioneer for his service to an 
amount not much, if any, short of one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, we cease to wonder at the desperate ef arts 
made hi/ him and his friends to coerce all parties into 
tame submission to his exactions, and the unworthy 
means resorted to by him and them to wreak revenge 
upon all such as could not be induced at his or their 
bidding to disobey the instructions they had received 
from their superiors, to violate their official obligations 
and quietly assent to the perpetration of his extor- 

^*But this is not all. The learned counsel seems to 
think that the law has now stepped in and made pro- 



vision for the employment of the auctioneer and his 
compensation, this investigation has nothing now to 
act upon in the matter of this wrong, so tar as Mr. 
Draper is concerned. Not so. It has been truly said, 
that one great purpose of thi.3 investigation is to as- 
certain what has become of the proceeds of the prize 
property. The testimony shows that Mr, Draper now 
has in his hands a sum amounting to nearly $3,.500 
belonging to the Navy Pension Fund and the captors, 
that he has retained this amount as his claimed 2h per 
cent, commission out of the proceeds of sales madeby 
bim after the consent for its allowance no Jonger e.xist- 
ed; that its allowance at any time was based solely 
upon consent and the ta.xation of the court; that the 
consent ceasing, the court has refused the taxation ; 
and this sum,' although demanded frorh him by the 
marshal, he has re/used, and now refuses to return. 
How, in the foce of this, can counsel seriously assert 
that there is nothing disclosed by this investigation 
militating against Jlr. Draper? ^ 

As the counsel representing the interests of the cap- 
tors in these causes in which the money has been thus 
retained, the undersigned respectfully asks if it comes 
within the sphere of the official duty of the Solicitor of 
the Treasury, tliat instructions may be given forth- 
■with to the district attorney to take such steps as may 
be requisite to enforce the return of this money. 

The testimony has proved that until the opposition 
arose to a continued compliance to the exorbitant im- 
positions of Mr. Drapei-, the auctioneer, no complaints 
were ever heard of the character of those set forth in 
the document signed by Moses H. GrinnoU as chair- 
man of this committee; that the information upon 
which these statements were made all came from 
Draper; that GiinncU procured the employment of 
Draper us auctioneer; that Grinnell 'urged the dis- 
trictiiittorney to take such action as should insure the 
prizi sales toDraper, with a commission of two and one 
half per cent. : that Grinnell is the personal, intimate 
friend of Draper ; that after Grinnell had been inform- 
ed that the Fecretary of the Navy objected to the al- 
lowance of this enormous commission to Draper, and 
afier he had become apprised that the district at- 
torney had been instructed by his official superior, the 
Solicftor of the Treasury, to "oppose the continued al- 
lowance of this enormous commission, he went to the 
district attorney and urged him to violate his official 
duty, to disregard his instructions and consent to such 
alhnvance ; that to induce him thus to violate his duty 
and disregard his instructions, he furnished him with 
a certificate, signed by himself and others, stating that 
two and one half per cent, was the customary commis- 
Bion paid to an auctioneer for the sale of merchandise 
in New York ; that one of the gentlemen (Mr. Min- 
turn) who signed this certificate ;and probably others) 
was not aware to what it was designed fo apply, nor 
apprised for what purpose it was oGtained ; that so far 
from flie truth is the statement of that ceriificatc, that 
a gentleman of large experience, called as a witness 
from the insurance office of Mr. Grinnell himself, 
swears that one half of one per cent, would be the ex- 
tent of a fair, reasonable, and customary commission 
paid to an auctioneer for performing the precise ser- 
vice jierformcd by Mr. Draper, as detailed to him by 
the Solicitor; and his evidence is fully corroborated 
by that of other witnesses ; that when the efforts of 
Mr. Draper and Mr. Grinnell proved unavailing to co- 
erce the further allowance of this extraordinary deplo- 
tion of the proceeds of prize property, then, and not 
till then, was heaid the outcry of frauds and coi-rup- 
tion, of robberies and i)cculations, and fraudulent re- 
clamations; then, and not till then, were the ears of 
tlic Secretary of the Navy assailed with the charges 



from Draper and Grinnell against the Government 
officials connected with adjudications and sales of 
prize property ; then, and not till then, were thenews- 
fiapers resorted to to fill the public mind with poison- 
ous suspicions that the captured property in this dis- 
trict was being absorbed by the ravenous spoliations 
of a set of hungr}' vultui-es and sharks, and robbers ; 
and then, and not till then, did Mr. Grinnell, under 
the advice and with the assistance of his friend, Mr. 
Draper, constitute his committee of merchants (who 
never met, and never organized, and never saw the 
written statement of charges signed by him, as chair- 
man of the committee, to originate, direct, and con- 
trol this organization). 

Some idea may be formed of the amount of money 
Mr. Draper thus withheld as fees, by his statement, 
(p. 3 1) that his commissions as auctioncer,from August, 
1861, to December, 18G2, were thirty thousand 

EIGHT HUNDRED AND ONE DOLLARS AND THIRTT-FITE 

CENTS. A pretty little sum, and not a small induce- 
ment for Sustaining the extraordinary pretensions 
and assumptions of President Lincoln ! 

Mr. JouRDAN, the Solicitor of the Treasury, who 
has, within the last three years, earned a most un- 
enviable notoriety, as a willing and most unscru- 
pulous tool of the Administration in covering up the 
improper practices and frauds of Mr. IjINCOLn's 
friends, vainly attempted, in his report, to palliate 
the corruptions in prize business, as Mr. Hulburd 
had made efi'ort in the revenue transactions of Bar- 
net, Butler, Stanton, and Palmer, but the Navy 
Department was too weak already, in public estima- 
tion, to bear such a load of obloquy, and Mr. Dra- 
per, as punishment for his improper conduct and 
pecuniary greed, was removed from office, and de-' 
prived of such further opportunity to withhold the 
hard earned money of the brave officers and sailors 
of our gallant Navy, who have so often, in this civil 
war, borne the naval thunders of the Union in honor 
and in triumph. 

But Mr. Draper's removal, for cause, from one 
relation to the Government, was only to be followed 
by promotion to a better position. Comment is un- 
necessary ! 

It is not to be argued from all this record of 
official infidelity, that all members of the Republican 
organization are rogues, who look upon their coun- 
try's woes as so many opportunities for enriching 
themselves. Far from it. The fads., however, do 
show that Abraham Lincoln cannot, or will not, in 
his administration of public affairs, call around him 
tire integrity and ability of his party. He travels 
only in the circle of shameless and polluted parti- 
sans, who can be bribed by chances of plunder to 
abstain from just and loyal rebuke of his untold acts 
of folly and crime. If a man is known by the com- 
pany ho keeps, Mr. Lincoln's real character ought 
to deter honorable men, of all political parties, from 
giving countenance and support to his impudent pre- 
tensions for a reelection. If all sense of public 
honor has not fled from among us, and if a free bal- 
lot box bo not a thing of the past, a verdict of con- 
demiuition of Abraham Lincoln will be uttered in 
November which will stand as significant warning to 
all future Presidents. 



^. My '/3 



